Isis to Launch Oct. 22, App for T-Mobile Goes Live

Isis has confirmed it will launch trials of its NFC-based mobile payments service in Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City on Oct. 22 after delaying the summer debut of the app.

The company had planned on going live during the summer, but abandoned the summer launch " to ensure a great consumer experience and seamless partner integration."

“Isis will be launching in Austin and Salt Lake City on Oct. 22. By year end, as many as 20 Isis ready handsets are expected to be in market," Jaymee Johnson, Isis head of marketing, said in a statement.

Further details will be made available on Monday, Johnson said.

Isis said in September it would provide an update on "launch specifics and momentum news" this month. The Android app for the Isis mobile wallet is now live in Google Play.

The launch of the app on Google’s Android app store comes two days after TmoNews released screen shots showing the mobile wallet pilot would go live on Oct. 22 in Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City, the first two trial markets for the NFC-based payments service.

The app is so far only available for T-Mobile USA customers. T-Mobile declined to comment on the launch of the application.

Isis is a three-way joint venture between AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, a project that could give the operators a way to cash in on the burgeoning mobile payments space. The Isis mobile wallet is expected to generate revenue through advertising and fees charged to financial institutions' whose cards are offered in the app.

Sprint is not part of Isis and has instead opted to support Google Wallet.

Getting consumers to adopt NFC-based payments has so far been a tough proposition. Retailers lack payment terminals compatible with the technology and only a handful of phones are equipped with NFC chips, giving consumers few reasons to abandon their leather wallets.